This disclosure relates generally to the field of computer science. More particularly, this disclosure relates to a technique for improving the user experience and power management in a personal electronic device.
Power constrained, hand-held devices (e.g., mobile phones, personal entertainment devices, and electronic pad computers) are resource limited compared to larger, fixed, systems such as desk-top, workstation and notebook computers. In such systems, the computational power available simply cannot support the execution of a large number of concurrent processes/threads without significantly degrading the user experience and consuming the device's limited power resources. In light of this recognition, system designers for these types of devices have traditionally permitted a limited multitasking capability at the operating system level (e.g., for core system functions), but have not supported multitasking at the user application level. While this approach has the benefit of minimizing the drain on the device's limited power resources, it also limits the ability to provide the user (via a user application) with an interactive environment.